Chart of accounts for guitar repair shops
A working chart of accounts built from an actual guitar repair shop's books — not a generic small business template with 'repair shop' swapped into the title.
Based on my husband's shop · Adapted from real books · Not a generic template
The line item most repair shop bookkeepers miss
Why consumables deserve their own account
Generic bookkeepers set up a catch-all "supplies" account and move on. For a guitar repair shop that's a problem — because consumables like polish, fretboard oil, string lubricant, and finishing compounds are a real and recurring cost of service delivery that never shows up on a customer invoice.
When they're buried in a general supplies account you can't see them. You can't track whether they're creeping up. You can't ask why a high-volume month didn't produce the margin you expected. And you can't use them to have an honest conversation about whether your service pricing is actually covering your true cost of delivery.
A dedicated consumables line in your operating expenses makes that cost visible. Visible costs get managed. Invisible ones just accumulate.
Revenue Accounts
Separate income accounts by service type — not one catch-all "repair income" line. Clean separation makes it easy to see which services are driving revenue and which are underperforming.
| Account Name | What Goes Here | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Repair Services | Parent account for all repair and service labor income. Use sub-accounts below for detail. | Income |
| › Setup & Adjustment | Standard setups, action adjustments, intonation, nut work billed as part of a setup. | Income |
| › Fret Work | Fret dresses, leveling, crowning, refrets. Higher ticket — worth tracking separately. | Income |
| › Electronics & Wiring | Pickup installs, rewires, shielding, pickup winding, OBEL and custom wiring jobs. | Income |
| › Structural & Neck Work | Truss rod work, neck resets, headstock repairs, crack repairs, structural glue jobs. | Income |
| › Finishing & Cosmetic Work | Touch-ups, refinishes, binding repairs, cosmetic restoration. Often project-based pricing. | Income |
| Parts & Materials Sales | Parts billed to the customer — strings, tuners, nuts, pickups, fretwire, pots, etc. Separate from labor income. | Income |
| Consignment Sales | Revenue from selling instruments or gear on consignment. Only your commission/margin is income — the payout to the owner is a separate liability until paid. | Income |
| Instruction & Classes | Lessons, workshops, or repair instruction. Keep separate from repair income — different margin profile and potentially different tax treatment depending on your state. | Income |
Direct Cost Accounts
Direct costs tied to delivering your services — parts resold to customers and consignment payouts. Some consumables that become part of the repaired property (fretboard oil, solder, finishing compounds) are technically resale-eligible per FL DOR GT-800067 — but for COA purposes they still belong in operating expenses where they're visible as a cost of doing business, not buried in COGS with discrete parts.
| Account Name | What Goes Here | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Parts & Materials — Cost | Your cost for parts you purchase and resell as part of a repair job — strings, pickups, hardware, fretwire, nuts, saddles, pots. Matches against Parts & Materials Sales income. | COGS |
| Consignment Payouts | Amount paid to the instrument owner when a consignment item sells. Matches against Consignment Sales income to show your net margin on consignment. | COGS |
Expense Accounts
The highlighted row is the one most repair shop bookkeepers miss entirely. Everything else is fairly standard — the value is in the separation, not just the categories.
| Account Name | What Goes Here | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Repair Consumables ★ The one most shops miss | Polish, fretboard oil, string lubricant, finishing compounds, cleaning solvents, abrasives, tape — anything consumed in performing repairs that doesn't show up on a customer invoice. A real and recurring cost of service delivery that generic templates bury in a catch-all supplies account. | Expenses |
| Small Tools & Hardware | Files, nut slot gauges, small jigs, minor tooling, anything expensed immediately rather than capitalized. Separate from consumables — tools last longer than a bottle of polish. | Expenses |
| Equipment & Maintenance | Larger tool purchases below your capitalization threshold, maintenance on major equipment, repair costs for bench tools. If you capitalize equipment it goes on the balance sheet — check with your accountant. | Expenses |
| Rent & Studio Space | Shop rent, storage rent, shared workspace fees. If you work from home keep a consistent home office allocation and document it. | Expenses |
| Utilities | Electric, internet, water for the shop. Allocate proportionally if working from home. | Expenses |
| Software & Subscriptions | luthiOS, QuickBooks, Wave, scheduling software, cloud storage — anything billed monthly or annually for business operations. | Expenses |
| Marketing & Advertising | Website hosting, paid ads, print, social media promotion. Separate from software subscriptions. | Expenses |
| Insurance | General liability, property, business owner's policy. Instruments in-shop coverage if applicable. | Expenses |
| Professional Fees | CPA, bookkeeper (Fret Not Financials), attorney fees. Keep separate from general software/subscriptions. | Expenses |
| Payment Processing Fees | Stripe, Square, PayPal transaction fees. Run a report on this account quarterly. Shops with high card transaction volume are often losing 2.5-3% of gross revenue here and don't know it. | Expenses |
| Vehicle & Mileage | If you use a vehicle for business — pickups, deliveries, parts runs. Track carefully. Standard mileage vs. actual expense method — your CPA can advise which is better for your situation. | Expenses |
A few notes before you copy this
This is based on one shop's real books. My husband runs a solo guitar repair shop. This COA works for us. Your shop may have revenue streams or expense categories that don't fit neatly — adjust accordingly. The point is the structure, not copying it verbatim.
Consignment has a liability component. When you take an instrument on consignment, the owner's share of the eventual sale sits as a liability on your balance sheet until you pay it out. If you do significant consignment volume this matters — don't just run it through income.
Payment processing fees are higher than you think. Run a report on this account quarterly. Shops that take a lot of small transactions via Square or PayPal are often losing 2.5-3% of gross revenue to fees. That's real money at any volume and it compounds.
Sales tax is not income. If you're collecting sales tax, it flows through a liability account — Sales Tax Payable — not income. If it's sitting in your income it will make your P&L look inflated and your remittance math won't work. This is one of the most common errors I see in cleanup work.
This is a starting point, not tax advice. Setting up a COA is accounting structure, not a substitute for understanding your actual tax obligations. If you're unsure how your revenue should be classified or whether you're collecting sales tax correctly, that's a separate conversation — and one worth having before it becomes a problem.
Need help applying this to your shop?
I can help you set things up correctly — whether that's your chart of accounts, your sales tax compliance, or your bookkeeping workflow.